Hey Raviraj, thx for this interesting compilation!
I enjoyed professor Bent Flyvbergs recent book “How Big Things Get Done” on this very topic.
IT projects in particular have a track record of failing spectacularly and going over budget and time. Flyvberg has memorable recommendations in his book, like “Think slow, Act fast” which interestingly we as an industry seems to have been moving away from in recent decades. He advocates for planning more and then executing as fast as possible. This is so because the longer a project takes the bigger the surface area for unexpected events (black swans) like COVID to hit.
"Staging the Value" is the most critical component in my opinion. In such projects, very often we lose the sense of why we started, and the 'sunk cost fallacy' creeps in. If the incremental value we give is good enough at some stage, we should feel confident stopping the project before the original finish line.
If it's all-or-nothing, and it takes more than a year, it will be hell (putting aside initial product launches)
Well said about stopping where it made sense. By the time you are in the middle of the project you realize you pivoted a few times that the original finish line may not make sense. So adjust accordingly.
I agree with all you plotted her Raviraj. I especially relate to adapting to ever chaning constraints. As they are inevitable, and I like your recommendation on how to deal with it. Keeping an open mind to change is one of the ways to excel and grow technical wise.
I am unsure if this is the right way to go. I have my own apprehensions. Now this is pathetic.
Here is the view:
>> While 6 month cycle is great for small well done iterations frozen on time, it can also be a deterrent. 1 Year is definitely a good time frame, unless it is a small project you may want a 1 month or 6 month planning cycle.
>> We are agile. We do waterfall planning, take all requests all the time, hey but we follow agile.
>> "Fast - Fast - Do it Fast - Fast - Do it Fast - Release it, whew Done Released - Now fix all the bugs in the next cycle."
Sample Example:
>> Look at this annoying harassment cycle 1-2 day update cycle of Windows security update with my Airtel connections throttled systematically during the updates. Some security definition updates are also pretty huge.
>> Well Microsoft was informed, no change yet. The Windows security update is also not part of "Windows - Pause Updates for x Weeks" Button option.
>> Microsoft is not even responding. Dell claims "Laptop Data Privacy Issues and Microsoft Data Privacy issues even without Malware" is not covered under normal "Dell - Microsoft warranty".
Worst the system's governance and IT/ gets ghosts, gods into the laptop, mobile. So who went wrong the Planning, the Policing/ Governance, or the Organized activities?
Hey Raviraj, thx for this interesting compilation!
I enjoyed professor Bent Flyvbergs recent book “How Big Things Get Done” on this very topic.
IT projects in particular have a track record of failing spectacularly and going over budget and time. Flyvberg has memorable recommendations in his book, like “Think slow, Act fast” which interestingly we as an industry seems to have been moving away from in recent decades. He advocates for planning more and then executing as fast as possible. This is so because the longer a project takes the bigger the surface area for unexpected events (black swans) like COVID to hit.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61327449
Thanks for sharing insights from the book. I haven't read the book but the message does resonate a lot.
"Staging the Value" is the most critical component in my opinion. In such projects, very often we lose the sense of why we started, and the 'sunk cost fallacy' creeps in. If the incremental value we give is good enough at some stage, we should feel confident stopping the project before the original finish line.
If it's all-or-nothing, and it takes more than a year, it will be hell (putting aside initial product launches)
Thanks for the shoutout!
Well said about stopping where it made sense. By the time you are in the middle of the project you realize you pivoted a few times that the original finish line may not make sense. So adjust accordingly.
This is a good read! I've learned a lot. And I'll add it to our newsletter.
Memo to myself: https://share.glasp.co/kei/?p=1f6c2921d09bb75d3631
I agree with all you plotted her Raviraj. I especially relate to adapting to ever chaning constraints. As they are inevitable, and I like your recommendation on how to deal with it. Keeping an open mind to change is one of the ways to excel and grow technical wise.
Excellent article and great writing. Very clear 👍.
I wish I had this guide before I led my first big project. #2 and #3 were especially disruptive!
Thank you for the shoutout!
Same! I didn't have it before my first big project. Learned it after a few of those.
"Articulate that the project is going to take at least X years. Never overcommit." This has been one of my biggest lessons of 2021.
I wanted to impress. I wanted to showcase that I can get it done faster. But it backfired in the worst possible way possible.
I am unsure if this is the right way to go. I have my own apprehensions. Now this is pathetic.
Here is the view:
>> While 6 month cycle is great for small well done iterations frozen on time, it can also be a deterrent. 1 Year is definitely a good time frame, unless it is a small project you may want a 1 month or 6 month planning cycle.
>> We are agile. We do waterfall planning, take all requests all the time, hey but we follow agile.
>> "Fast - Fast - Do it Fast - Fast - Do it Fast - Release it, whew Done Released - Now fix all the bugs in the next cycle."
Sample Example:
>> Look at this annoying harassment cycle 1-2 day update cycle of Windows security update with my Airtel connections throttled systematically during the updates. Some security definition updates are also pretty huge.
>> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yDo96S2SshRQ608ExgrQ0nbnG0v8xlh9/view?usp=sharing
>> Well Microsoft was informed, no change yet. The Windows security update is also not part of "Windows - Pause Updates for x Weeks" Button option.
>> Microsoft is not even responding. Dell claims "Laptop Data Privacy Issues and Microsoft Data Privacy issues even without Malware" is not covered under normal "Dell - Microsoft warranty".
Worst the system's governance and IT/ gets ghosts, gods into the laptop, mobile. So who went wrong the Planning, the Policing/ Governance, or the Organized activities?